BRUSSELS, August 31, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Legal experts are expressing their concerns over the decision of the European Court of Human Rights this month that Italy’s law against eugenic screening of embryos conceived by in vitro fertilization must be overturned. The Strasbourg-based court said that Italy’s prohibition of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) was “incoherent” in the face of existing laws allowing abortion for eugenic purposes. It awarded a couple who had chosen to abort their child, who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, 15,000 Euros. Italian commentators have pointed out that the court’s ruling shows a predisposition to accept eugenic abortion...

FULL TITLE: Outrage at friar's claims that it is often the teenage boys who seduce priests in religious sex abuse cases... and he calls Sandusky 'a poor guy' A friar has sparked outrage after claiming it is often the boys who seduce priests in religious sexual abuse cases. In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Father Benedict Groeschel of the conservative Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, said he did not believe a priest found guilty of sexual absuse should go to jail if it was his first offence. He even went on to describe disgraced Penn State football coach...

The University of Texas at Austin announced Wednesday that a sociologist who has been excoriated by some in the media over a study showing that parents’ homosexual relationships can have negative effects on children is innocent of academic misconduct Dr. Mark Regnerus made headlines in June, when his study was published in the widely respected journal Social Science Research. According to his findings, children raised by homosexual parents are more likely than those raised by married heterosexual parents to suffer from poor impulse control, depression and suicidal thoughts, require mental health therapy; identify themselves as homosexual; choose cohabitation; be unfaithful...

On Tuesday night in Ybor City, the Republican group GOProud — a national organization of gay and straight Americans seeking to promote freedom by supporting free markets, limited government and a respect for individual rights — held a well-attended party at a nightclub. . . If the Republican Party gets trapped into talking about what I call the "I-GAG" issues of immigration, guns, abortion or gays, the Romney-Ryan ticket will lose in November. . . Nominees and party leaders frequently give a wink and a nod to acknowledge the platform is nothing but a tool to appease the far-right from...

Larry Elder flays 'Obama-embracing/Republican-hating left-wing 'journalists'' Abortion, according to a recent Rasmussen poll, fails to make the cut among the top 10 issues important to voters. Yet, because of the GOP opposition to abortion, the mainscream media insist that Republicans suffer from a voter “gender gap,” with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney down 8 percentage points among women. Fifty percent of men support Romney, but only 42 percent of women do so. Funny, just two years ago in the 2010 off-year elections, Republicans took the female vote for the first time in nearly 30 years. There are big differences in...

A bill prohibiting the use of controversial therapy aimed at 'curing' homosexuality on gay teenagers has been approved by California's Assembly, bringing the state a step closer to becoming the first in the U.S. to outlaw the practice. The vote in the Democratic-controlled Assembly on Tuesday represented a major victory for gay rights advocates who insist that so-called conversion therapy has no medical basis because homosexuality is not a disorder. Democrat Richardo Lara, one of several openly gay legislators to champion the bill during the debate, urged Assembly members to stand with 'sissy boys'.

Controversy has been sparked as the first civil union between three separate partners was registered in Tupă, in the Northwestern region of Sao Paulo state, Brazil last week. The three-person union has shocked religious groups in the country, and sparked further concerns that the traditional family unit is being further eroded by the current day society. The actual declaration of the union between the man and two women was in fact made three months ago, but it finally became public this week. Notary officer, Claudia do Nascimento Domingues, has explained that the three partners lived together and wanted to publicly...

Exclusive: Jane M. Orient, M.D., says political demagoguery is replacing science “From what I understand from doctors, that’s (conception as a result of rape) really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something, I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.” – Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo. All decent people, including U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin, agree that forcible rape is a heinous crime. Almost all would...

A notary in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo has sparked controversy by accepting a civil union between three people. Public Notary Claudia do Nascimento Domingues has said the man and two women should be entitled to family rights. She says there is nothing in law to prevent such an arrangement. But the move has angered some religious groups, while one lawyer described it as "absurd and totally illegal". The three individuals, who have declined to speak to the press, have lived in Rio de Janeiro together for three years and share bills and other expenses. Ms Domingues says they...

27 August, 12 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The fuzzy grayscale ultrasound images of the two unborn babies are practically identical. But the jarring question above the images makes everyone take a second look: “Which of these two human beings was conceived in rape?” The viewer is compelled to say: “I can’t tell, they both look the same.” And that’s exactly the point. Whether a baby is conceived in the terrible circumstance of rape or in the happy circumstance of a loving spousal embrace, the fact remains that both are human beings. Both, if given a chance, will flourish by being loved,...

The Republican Party’s platform committee declared war on pornography ahead of this week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla. In a Monday morning press release, advocacy group Morality in Media revealed that “new language replaces previous platform wording, which only opposed child pornography.” According to MIM, the new wording will read, “Current laws on all forms of pornography and obscenity need to be vigorously enforced.” The party platform was drafted by a 112-member committee and will be unveiled early this week. Existing obscenity laws “not only prohibit distribution of hardcore pornography on the Internet but also on hotel/motel TV, on...

<p>The Minnesota Supreme Court on Monday, Aug. 27, rejected a legal challenge to a proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to show photo ID at the polls.</p>
<p>The high court tossed out a lawsuit from left-leaning groups who argued that lawmakers had failed to give voters the full scope of the changes that would result from the amendment.</p>

The biggest abortion business in the nation is prepared to spend heavily to ensure the hundreds of millions it receives in federal funding continues, by launching an aggressive attack on presidential candidate Mitt Romney.The Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the political arm of the company that does more than 300,000 abortions annually and has endorsed Obama, plans to spend more than $3 million to target voters in the battleground states of Ohio and Virginia with ads bashing Romney for wanting to cut its taxpayer funding. The $3.2 million campaign will feature everything from online ads to old-fashioned door to door politics.Â“We...

A university study shows that girls as young as six are being conditioned by the media to think of themselves as sex objects. While past studies have found that teens and young women increasingly see themselves in such terms, the study, published last month in the journal Sex Roles, is the first to identify self-sexualization in early elementary-school-aged girls. The study was conducted by psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, who used paper dolls to determine the level of “self-sexualization” in girls ages six to nine. A total of 60 girls were shown two dolls, one dressed in tight...

Iran has experienced a dramatic growth in under-age marriages that has seen the number of girls being wed before the age of 10 double in the space of a year, officially-compiled figures have revealed. The trend has prompted child protection experts to warn of a surge in mental illness, suicides, teenage runaways and girls turning to prostitution as the nuptials frequently end in divorce. While both genders are affected, statistics from the state-run civil registration organisation show the phenomenon to be more prevalent among girls. Some families are said to be marrying off their daughters to older men to pay...

Planned Parenthood’s Action Fund plans to spend more than $3 million in Ohio and Virginia against Mitt Romney in the wake of his pledge to “get rid” of the women’s health advocacy group. The group is one of several liberal-leaning women’s organizations planning to spend millions of dollars in crucial election states to swing undecided female voters toward President Obama. Joining them are NARAL Pro-Choice America and EMILY’s List, two abortion-rights groups who are also planning aggressive campaigns. Their message is in line with Obama’s increased courtship of female voters. Several women will address the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte....

A brand new CNN survey shows a supermajority of Americans want abortions proscribed in all or most circumstances (via LifeNews): The survey asked: “Do you think abortion should be legal under any circumstances, legal under only certain circumstances, or illegal in all circumstances?” Some 62 percent want abortions illegal in all cases or legal only in certain instances while just 35% want abortions legal for any reason. Breaking down the question further, CNN asked, “Do you think abortion should be legal in most circumstances or only a few circumstances?” Here, 52 percent took a pro-life view saying abortion should be...

WASHINGTON, D.C., AUG. 22, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Primum non nocere. First do no harm. This edict has been part of medical ethics since the time of the ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates, in the fifth century B.C. It is found in the Hippocratic Corpus, a collection of medical writing attributed to Hippocrates. The original Hippocratic oath includes: I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. For millennia the physician has been charged with being an advocate for the patient. Part of the impetus for the...

Embattled Senate candidate Todd Akin just told reporters in Chesterfield that he is staying in the Senate race against Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill. Akin repeated the kinds of statements he'd made previously to national media, asserting that he's never had the support of the Republican party establishment anyway. [...]

Did Obama vote in favor infanticide? Pro-life activists have long made the argument that he did, and that a conspiracy of silence from the mainstream media is the only thing that has prevented Americans from knowing the full extent of Obama’s extreme views on the abortion issue. Now, newly unearthed audio from 2002 shows Barack Obama, then a state senator in Illinois, discussing the bill that has elicited charges that he voted to allow “infanticide”: the Born Alive Infant Protection Act (BAIPA). The bill was introduced after pro-life nurse Jill Stanek witnessed babies being born alive after failed abortions, then...

Rebecca Julius sent me the following letter and gave me permission to share it with you. Rebecca is a student at an ELCA college. I praise God for Rebecca and pray God will raise up faithful men and women to stand up with her. In first Corinthians 5, Paul writes to God's people concerning sexual immorality, and chastises them for their pride and boasting over something evil. He talks about judgement - not hating or being hypocritical, but keeping those who profess Christ's name accountable to their faith and fellowship. Too often today, Christians that oppose homosexuality and same-sex marriage...

A Connecticut homosexual pled guilty on Tuesday to sending 300 threatening messages, including death threats, to the leader of a state pro-life, pro-marriage organization. 53-year-old Daniel Sarno of Enfield, Connecticut, admitted intimidating Peter Wolfgang, the executive director of the Family Institute of Connecticut, over a six-month period from last November until May. One message read: “No mercy for homophobes. I suggest you make your funeral arrangements real soon, Mr. Wolfgang.” Another said, “I sure hope somebody blows you away. Yer dead.” Sarno once asked, “Are ‘family values’ worth dying for, Mr. Wolfgang?” Wolfgang said Sarno identified himself as a homosexual...

Worse still, as a state senator in Illinois, Obama opposed the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act and in his defense said something that should put a chill up every mother's spine: There wasn't any question about what was happening. The abortions were going wrong. The babies weren't cooperating. They wouldn't die as planned. Or, as Illinois state senator Barack Obama so touchingly put it, there was "movement or some indication that, in fact, they're not just coming out limp and dead." No, Senator. They wouldn't go along with the program. They wouldn't just come out limp and dead. They were coming...

Chicago's Grant Park on November 4, 2009, was the site of a jubilant election-night rally and victory speech by Barack Obama. Toward the end of his speech, he said, "So tonight, let us ask ourselves—if our children should live to see the next century . . . what change will they see? What progress will we have made?" Within sight of Grant Park, on July 20, 2012, Tonya Reaves, 24, entered a Planned Parenthood Clinic on Michigan Avenue. She underwent a "dilation and extraction" (D & E) abortion. Afterwards, she started bleeding. She bled at Planned Parenthood for five and...

A biological engineer at Boston Biomedical Research Institute has responded to statements by Oxford ethicist Julian Savulescu that “genetics determines” personality and character, and that parents have a “moral obligation” to use genetic screening. Putting the moral question aside, Dr. James Sherley told LifeSiteNews.com today that Savulescu’s scientific claims are “absolutely false.” “Our understanding of the contribution of the human genome to human psychology is not nearly advanced enough to make such a claim,” he said in an interview. Savulescu raised a small storm of controversy this week when he said that parents should screen out undesirable personality traits and...

Several Obama surrogates in Virginia opposed a popular law that ensures lengthy prison sentences for child rapists. In March, the Virginia state legislature overwhelmingly passed a law that imposed automatic life sentences for any adult convicted of raping a child under the age of 13. The issue received scant attention and even less debate, according to Delegate Rob Bell (R.,Charlottesville), the bill’s sponsor. . . Opponents of the law visited the White House on at least 17 occasions, according to White House logs. Many are organizing for Obama in the highly charged race to capture Virginia’s 13 electoral votes. Sen....

LOS ANGELES – Think family-friendly viewing times mean family-friendly content? Maybe not. The Parents Television Council (PTC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating parents about television content, has released a new study looking at nudity on prime-time broadcast television which reveals a major increase over the 2011-2012 season. The study found that there were 76 incidents of full nudity on 37 shows compared to 15 incidents in 14 shows the previous ratings season, representing a 407 percent rise in incidents. Almost 70 percent of the scenes that featured such nudity were on shows which aired prior to 9pm, compared to...

Two longshot efforts to alter the Republican Party’s official position on same-sex marriage failed Tuesday morning. Republicans drafting the party’s platform in Tampa rejected the pair of amendments, but each found some support among the delegates. The first, proposed by Rhode Island delegate Barbara Fenton, called for ending government-recognized marriage and replacing it with civil unions for both homosexual and heterosexual couples. ... Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, a delegate from Louisiana, opposed the measure. “This would move us away from a party that recognizes the benefits that marriage extends to a society,” Mr. Perkins said. “We recognize nature,...

A 12-year-old boy, Zach McDaniel (earlier reports claimed his last name was Fernandez), was secretly denied food and water and life-saving treatment while at a hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. His doctor also slipped a "do not resuscitate" order into the boy's chart without the knowledge and consent of his parents. On August 6, after suffering a gunshot wound to his head as a bystander during a drug-deal gone bad in Abilene, Texas, Zach underwent emergency surgery and then was transferred to Cook Children's Medical Center in Ft. Worth for advanced treatment. Upon transfer, Zach was admitted to the pediatric...

This year has seen a rash of medical studies reporting on developments in cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA) prenatal testing. Not too long ago, one commentator cautioned that as prenatal genetic testing becomes more pervasive, our society risks developing a “eugenics common sense.” The reporting on the new cffDNA testing suggests that some have already developed this sensibility. In October 2011, Sequenom, a publicly traded company, introduced its version of cffDNA prenatal testing. As the name suggests, floating in each expectant mother’s blood stream are bits of DNA from the child she is carrying. The new testing procedure tests this fetal...

To All: The events of the last 24 hours illustrate why I'm not a Republican. I'm tired of being expected to defend the indefensible and stupid actions of Republicans. I'm somebody totally different. I'm an Independent Conservative. I don't shoot myself in the foot, head, butt, or leg on purpose. With Rep. Todd Akin saying something totally insane and suicidal politically, the RNC Platform committee backs him up with the most egregious plank I can think of. Ryan and Romney, it can be argued, agree with Akin and the RNC platform. Very easy to demagogue and to change the subject...

Even as the Republican establishment continued to call for Representative Todd Akin of Missouri to drop out of his Senate race because of his comments on rape and abortion, Republicans approved platform language on Tuesday calling for a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion with no explicit exceptions for cases of rape or incest. The anti-abortion plank, approved by the Republican platform committee Tuesday morning in Tampa, Fla., was similar to the planks Republicans have included in their recent party platforms, which also called for a constitutional ban on abortions. The full convention is set to vote on the party's platform on...

It's like it's the ONLY news happening on the entire planet. Anyone else noticing this? They are spending 3 minutes of every 15 on this, and have been, all morning. CBS Evening News devoted a FULL EIGHT MINUTES to this last night.

A former Texas high school teacher was convicted of multiple felonies after having sex with five 18-year-old students at her home. The conviction was a victory for the prosecution but it was a setback for the feminist movement. It was also a setback for the homosexual uncivil rights movement, which seeks unlimited authority to redefine relationships among consenting adults. Brittni Nicole Colleps, 28, of Arlington, was found guilty of 16 counts of having an inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher. In Texas, this second-degree felony is punishable by two to 20 years in prison per count. Because none of...

British MP George Galloway has created controversy in the UK for comments made about rape during a British radio broadcast. Galloway was discussing the sexual allegations against WikiLeaks mastermind Julian Assange in an episode of his "Good Night" podcast published on August 18th. The New Statesman has transcribed the controversial comments: Let's take woman A. Woman A met Julian Assange, invited him back to her flat [apartment], gave him dinner, went to bed with him, had consensual sex with him. Claims that she woke up to him having sex with her again. This is something which can happen, you know....

The setting is the quiet corner of an Italian restaurant in the City; the players are George, an IT specialist, and Zoe, who wears a pretty dress and a big smile; they drink an especially good bottle of wine and when they get to coffee he reaches over and kisses her on the mouth. She surprises him by kissing him back. To onlookers it might be the classic opening scene of a traditional romance. Yet both parties are married to other people, whom they have no intention of leaving. Although they will go on to enjoy all the spoils of...

LANCASTER [CA] – Detectives from the Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau are investigating allegations of sexual abuse by a youth soccer coach in the Antelope Valley area. Renoir Valenti, a 50-year-old White male, has been an American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) soccer coach and referee for more than 16 years in the Antelope Valley. He coached teams that included 9-14 year old boys. Valenti became the subject of an investigation in July 2012 when the mother of a 9-year-old boy reported that her son had been molested. This incident was not related to Valenti being a soccer coach. Over the course...

An “unforgiving, puritan Anglo-Saxon” attitude to adultery is damaging married life in Britain, driving couples to divorce rather than strengthening the family, according to an outspoken French academic. -- Dr Catherine Hakim, a sociologist and bestselling author, argues that a “sour and rigid English view” of infidelity is condemning millions of people to live frustrated “celibate” lives with their spouses. In a book bound to provoke controversy, she likens faithful husbands and wives to “caged animals” and argues that they should be free to explore their “wild side” with lovers without the threat of divorce. Meeting a secret lover for...

Bishop Calls on All Christians to Leave Democratic Party8/20.2012Charisma News Staff Bishop E.W. Jackson is making a war cry: “Let God’s people go!”Jackson, a Marine Corps veteran, graduate of Harvard Law School and adjunct professor of law, is echoing the words of Moses in a campaign to persuade Christians of all races that the time has come for a wholesale exodus of Christians from the Democrat Party.The former candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia points to what he calls the Democrat party's “cult-like devotion” to abortion; the rejection of the traditional biblical model of family; the hostility hurled at those...

Odious remarks by GOP Missouri Senate candidate Cong. Todd Akin about how few pregnancies result from "legitimate rape" have done more than outrage people across the country and doom Akin's bid to move up from the House. It motivated the Romney campaign - - already trailing among women voters in recent polls - - to distance itself from Akin by assuring voters that Romney and Paul Ryan - - the "Romney-Ryan administration" - - should they win in November, would not oppose raped women's access to abortion. "Governor Romney and Congressman (Paul) Ryan disagree with Mr. Akin's statement, and a...

Many issues are involved in the present debate over the acceptance of homosexuality. While there are those in the field of genetics who say homosexuality is biologically determined, there are also those in the field of religion who say the practice of homosexuality is always wrong. . . . There are many studies that have been conducted but none of them prove the practice of homosexuality is biologically determined. In fact, human behavior, sexual or otherwise, has little to do with genetics. A rational person will realize that we live in a world where we have a choice as to...

It has been coming for some time, but the top voices in bioethics–by which I mean those who inhabit the top floors of the ivory tower–are almost all blatant eugenicists. That sure is from whence the first eugenics came from–and the pattern is repeating itself. First, anti human exceptionalism cultural poison spouted from the top universities. Then, money from rich private foundations to fuel the advocacy: Philanthropists fueled the first eugenics, just as the secretive Ira W. DeCamp Foundation paid to bring Peter Singer to his academic chair at Princeton. And then, move the cancer from the academic press and symposia into the popular culture. Everything...

This week, one of the leading pro-life groups for Catholics made the decision to put its imprimatur on the presidential ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, saying it is the right vote for pro-lifers. On the heels of Romney’s picking a pro-life running mate in Rep. Paul Ryan, Brian Burch of Catholic Vote told his supporters, “Mitt Romney made his choice. Today we are making ours.” “CatholicVote.org is proud to announce that we are enthusiastically endorsing Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in the 2012 presidential race,” Burch said. “The decision to endorse Romney for President was made after Governor...

August 17, 2012 7:47 AM Russian female punk band Pussy Riot found guilty of hooliganism over Putin protest at church site Updated at 8:53 a.m. ET (CBS/AP) MOSCOW - A Russian judge found three members of the provocative punk band Pussy Riot guilty of hooliganism on Friday, in one of the most closely watched cases in recent Russian history. The judge said the three band members committed hooliganism driven by religious hatred and offending religious believers. The three were arrested in March after a guerrilla performance in Moscow's main cathedral in February calling for the Virgin Mary to protect Russia...

Scientists may be one step closer to a birth control pill for men. A drug dubbed JQ1 swiftly stunted sperm production in male mice, a new study found. And like the female birth control pill, its fertility-fighting effects on were completely reversible. "We have only observed full recovery of fertility in treated males," the researchers from Baylor College of Medicine wrote in their study, published today in the journal Cell. "We envision that our discoveries can be completely translated to men, providing a novel and efficacious strategy for a male contraceptive." …

Culture Challenge of the Week: Movies "Selling" Sex to Children Can you name the last five movies your teenage son or daughter has watched with friends? How strong was the sexual content in those movies? And does it really matter? New research suggests that it does. The study, conducted by Dr. Ross O'Hara and soon to be published in the journal Psychological Science, found that promiscuity on-screen promotes promiscuity in real life. "Adolescents who are exposed to more sexual content in movies start having sex at younger ages, have more sexual partners," and engage in riskier sexual activities says Dr....

Moscow's top court has upheld a ban on gay pride marches in the Russian capital for the next 100 years. Earlier Russia's best-known gay rights campaigner, Nikolay Alexeyev, had gone to court hoping to overturn the city council's ban on gay parades. He had asked for the right to stage such parades for the next 100 years. He also opposes St Petersburg's ban on spreading "homosexual propaganda". The European Court of Human Rights has told Russia to pay him damages. On Friday he said he would go back to the European Court in Strasbourg to push for a recognition that...

Rep. Kerry Gauthier, D-Duluth, won't face charges for having oral sex with a minor at the Thompson Hill rest stop near Duluth, but at the least he's revealed himself to be a dishonest person, lying to the 17-year-old about his age and to police about what exactly happened in the woods that night. . . Gauthier, 56, was then a bit more forthcoming, telling the officer that he met the boy through an ad he posted on Craigslist. In the ad, Gauthier characterized himself as a 43-year-old looking for man-on-man sex with "no strings attached." His ad received a...

Benjamin Brink/The Oregonian St. Luke Catholic Church in Woodburn, where the Rev. Angel Armando Perez is the parish priest. It was close to midnight Sunday when Woodburn resident James Curths saw the 12-year-old boy running down the street toward him. Curths said the child, panting and out of breath, begged for help, telling him a man was chasing him. Moments later, a man rounded the corner wearing only underwear. He stood a short distance away, trying to wave the boy over as Curths and his sister-in-law prepared to drive the boy to relatives. "He was staring at us," said Heather...

Dust off those resumes, the Los Angeles City Council may soon be looking for a condom cop. Earlier this year the council appointed a committee to study how a newly minted law requiring the use of condoms on some adult film sets could be enforced. After several meetings between police, representatives of the porn industry and other committee members, the city’s administrative officer issued a 47-page report Wednesday. Among its recommendations: contracting with a licensed medical professional who would conduct periodic inspections of film productions to make sure condoms are used. Other proposals include establishing a fee, the amount to...